Houston lawyer Gaynelle Griffin Jones, 64, dies

By Minh Dam

Updated 11:22 pm, Sunday, March 3, 2013

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Gaynelle Griffin Jones the first African-American woman appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993 as a United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, Has died the 64-year-old. The Houstonian was also the first African-American woman to serve on the First Court of Appeals in Texas.

Gaynelle Griffin Jones the first African-American woman appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993 as a United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, Has died the 64-year-old. The Houstonian was

"There was never a dull moment with her," said her daughter, Athena Jones, who works as a CNN correspondent. "She was definitely a busy woman all her life."

Jones' 40-year legal career began after graduating from Boston College Law School in 1972. She has been both a state and federal prosecutor in Louisiana and Texas and practiced corporate law in Boston and Houston. Most recently, Jones served as litigation counsel for Hewlett-Packard Co.

A native Texan, Jones received many honors and awards that celebrated her continued activity in the community, the legal profession and her church.

She was a recipient of the Sarah Hughes Outstanding Achievement Award from the State Bar of Texas Women's Section in 1998. She served on the board for the Phoenix House of Texas, a teenage drug treatment program. Jones was also a deaconess at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church.

"She certainly pushed people to achieve greatness," Athena said of her mother's many accomplishments. "She wanted everyone to aim high."

Jones encouraged Athena to pursue her career in journalism and even pushed her husband to finish his doctorate degree last year.

"She got onto me about finishing my Ph.D. studies," said Robert Jones, her husband of 26 years. "She always put her family first. Her family was her heart."

Jones was born in Dallas in 1948 and moved to Houston in 1986. She loved to read long novels and always took at least one vacation a year.